Animated Assembly

3D assembly video sample

A kids’ bunk bed with stairs on either end, built from all 13 steps of its manual.

What happens in the video

  1. Parts Two end frames, the back, front and guard rails, the stairs, four bars and two slat rolls; then the hardware by size, and a hex key
  2. Step 1 Dowels tapped straight into the ends of five rails · 18× 8 × 40 mm dowel
  3. Step 2 Two bar holders screwed to the ledge of each of the four long rails · 8× bar holder, 16× 3.5 × 25 mm screw
  4. Step 3 A corner bracket on each end of the four bars · 8× corner bracket, 16× 3.5 × 16 mm screw
  5. Step 4 One end frame stood up; the lower back rail bolted on · 2× M6 × 100 bolt, 2× M6 barrel nut
  6. Step 5 The upper back rail · 2× M6 × 100 bolt, 2× M6 barrel nut
  7. Step 6 A front rail, low · 2× M6 × 100 bolt, 2× M6 barrel nut
  8. Step 7 The other front rail, high · 2× M6 × 100 bolt, 2× M6 barrel nut
  9. Step 8 The other end frame onto all four rails · 8× M6 × 100 bolt, 8× M6 barrel nut
  10. Step 9 The guard rail bolted to that end frame · 2× M6 × 100 bolt, 2× M6 barrel nut
  11. Step 10 The stairs on, bolted from inside the bed to both front rails and the guard rail · 10× M6 × 35 bolt
  12. Step 11 The four bars hooked into their holders · no hardware
  13. Step 12 Both slat rolls rolled out along the ledges, one screw through each end of each slat · 60× 5 × 40 mm screw
  14. Step 13 The finished bed, stairs on the right · no hardware
  15. Done Stairs on the other end: the guard rail and stairs moved across, the guard rail turned end for end, with the same parts and bolts

Where it differs from the manual

A sample we made from the maker's public manual: not made for, paid for or approved by the maker. Its name, logo and model are left out, and the manual's pages aren't shown.

  • The manual’s steps put the stairs on the right, and its last page shows the bed both ways. The video builds it on the right, then moves the guard rail and stairs to the other end: the same parts and bolts, with the guard rail turned end for end.
  • Rolling the slats in is our reading, not the maker’s method. The manual draws each slat roll laid flat; a flat roll can’t pass the stairs and end frames into the lower bunk, so the video brings each roll in rolled up and rolls it out along the ledges.
  • The manual draws the two front rails once in steps 1 and 2; the video fits both. How the corner brackets catch in the bar holders is read off small drawings.
  • The manual has no words, only drawings; the step lines here are ours. The hex key is in its hardware list and it draws the hammer; the Phillips screwdriver is our pick from the screw heads.
  • The manual prints only the hardware’s sizes; the bed’s sizes are our estimate from its drawings. Hardware is named by size and kind, not by the manual’s letters.

All samples · The bookcase demo